Austrian activist Martin Sellner of Génération Identitaire and his girlfriend, American author and YouTuber Brittany Pettibone, have been detained by airport police in England for nearly three days.

Nobody from the US State Department or embassy contacted Pettibone's family.

Sellner was on his way to give a speech that authorities say would cause "tension among local communities and possibly incite hatred."

Brittany Pettibone & Martin Sellner are being held in a detention centre in London. They have been there for 2 days and don't know when they will be allowed to leave. The immigration officer told Brittany she was being detained for 'planning to meet Tommy Robinson, an extremist"

"Yesterday, Martin Sellner and Brittany Pettibone were detained by the UK Government and effectively declared political dissidents. The government has decided that Martin's talk about free speech is too dangerous to be heard. Don't worry, some of our activists will be reading his speech at Speakers' Corner at noon tomorrow in his stead. We can't allow either the far left or the government to silence us," a statement from the British GI chapter read.

Sellner frequently speaks out about the dangers of European nations taking in migrants. He was supposed to be addressing the issue at Speakers' Corner in Hyde Park on Sunday.

Journalist and researcher Nick Monroe spoke to Pettibone on Saturday afternoon when she called him from the detention center. She told him that she is expecting that they will be released on Sunday - 72 hours after their initial detention. She has not been permitted to speak to Sellner.

Basically:

Basically: - The UK police detained @BrittPettibone and @Martin_Sellner at the airport because they were worried the speech on speaker's corner would cause rioting - They were detained in separate cells - They are being sent back to Austria by tomorrow at the latest.

One of the reasons for the detention was that they were planning to interview former Rebel Media journalist Tommy Robinson.

Just spoke to Brittany on the prison payphone. She said she is being detained for planning to 'Interview Tommy Robinson'. Immigration officer compared Tommy to the KKK. She's not allowed to leave and has been there for 2 days. Not allowed to speak to or see her partner Martin.

"My speech for the @YIofficial conference was cancelled for the 2nd time, due to security risks caused by left wing threats," Sellner tweeted. "But we won't be silenced. On Sunday the 11th I will give my speech on Speakers Corner and I invite everybody who had a ticket for the conference to come!"

My speech for the @YIofficial conference was cancelled for the 2nd time, due to security risks caused by left wing threats.But we wont be silencend. On Sunday the 11th I will give my speech on Speakers Corner and I invite everybody who had a ticket for the conference to come! pic.twitter.com/3FRWZLYXXW

According to the Evening Standard, the Home Office had previously refused to comment on whether or not Sellner would be blocked from entering the UK.

"The Home Secretary may exclude an EEA national on the grounds of public policy or security, if they pose a genuine, present and sufficiently serious threat," they said in a statement early Saturday morning.

UPDATE: Immigration officer has told Brittany she may be allowed to go home tomorrow. (After 3 days of being detained) @TRobinsonNewEra and I will be waiting at the airport for her tomorrow. If she does arrive, we will post a full update on her wellbeing & situation.